First Obama got his nose stuck in Russia’s affairs, and now he’s pointing a nostril at China’s.
What is wrong with US politicians these days? They know nothing about foreign policy or foreign regimes come to that, yet they continue to try to dictate how everyone else should be behaving themselves.
These things aren’t any of our business and American Presidents, Secretaries of State and the rest are not doing themselves, or their country, any favors by getting involved in foreign disputes that don’t concern them.
You could understand it if they knew what they were talking about, but the long list of failed initiatives and interventions shows clearly they don’t. No one respects their opinion any more and economically and militarily strong nations, like Russia and China, certainly aren’t going to lie down and buckle under because of any outside interference.
So far US meddling in other people’s affairs has caused a catastrophe in the Middle East, ill will in Europe, sanctions against Russia that don’t work, and now interfering in what is happening in Hong Kong has done nothing but irritate the Chinese government. They’ve actually told America to butt out and mind their own business.
What they actually said was “Hong Kong affairs fall entirely within China’s internal affairs. We hope that some countries and people can be prudent in their words and deeds, refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Hong Kong in any way, do not support the illegal activities such as the ‘Occupy Central,’ and do not send any wrong signals.”
Like I said – butt out!
The Chinese government will do what they are going to do, no matter what criticism it draws from the rest of the world. China is not a democracy so it is pointless to try to impose democratic ideals on it and its people. You can be sure that those in charge in China will eventually put down the current protests, violently if necessary. All that will be achieved by egging the protesters on will be a disaster like the Tiananmen Square massacre. How many lives is it worth to embarrass China on the media for a few days?
Apart from the un-informed who only parrot what they hear on heavily skewed TV newscasts, most of the rest of us are fed up with people dying in order to make the world safe for democracy.
America has a cart load of problems, economic, social and the rest, without taking on the ills of the rest of the world as well, especially when it hasn’t a clue how to solve them.
Time for a rethink, assuming that any thought was put into what they are currently doing.
Time to test your knowledge of a wide range of subjects including geography, history, politics, music, movies, sport… even space!
And a lot of muli-pointers to give you the chance of building up a good score.
As usual if you get stuct you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: What side of the road do you drive on in Japan, is it on the right (like the USA) or on the left (like Britain)?
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Q. 2: Who won this year’s (2014) Gentlemans and Ladies Singles titles at the world famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament in England? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get both correct.)
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Q. 3: What is the most distant human-made object from Earth?
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Q. 4: What is the automobile that began as a project between Swatch and Mercedes most commonly known as?
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Q. 5: In the days when countries took control of other nations and territories overseas they were called Empires. Which country at one time controlled the largest Empire in the world (in terms of land area)?
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Q. 6: There are twelve buttons on a touch tone phone. What two symbols bear no digits?
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Q. 7: In which branch of the armed forces did William Hitler, a nephew of Adolf Hitler, serve during World War II?
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Q. 8: One chocolate chip can give you enough energy to walk approximately how many feet?
a) 50 feet b) 100 feet c) 150 feet d) 200 feet
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Q. 9: Plus or minus ten, The Bahamas consists of approximately how many islands?
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Q. 10: How many ‘Terminator’ movies have there been to date (2014)? (Bonus points if you can name them and the year they were released.)
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Q. 11: Who were the magician duo, known for their magic with big cats, who became the most successful and best known entertainers in Las Vegas?
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Q. 12: How many US Presidents have been assassinated? (A bonus point for each that you can name and even more points if you know where the assassinations took place and the names of the assassins.)
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Q. 13: If you added the number of players in a basket ball team, the number of players in an American football team, the number of players in a soccer team and the number of players in a rugby union team, what would be the total?
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Q. 14: Famous as Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford, who was he?
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Q. 15: What is the collective name for the 26 self-governing districts into which Switzerland is divided?
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Q. 16: The month of August falls within which two Zodiac signs?
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Q. 17: What was the name of the unexpected hit TV series about an unlikely duo who cook methamphetamine?
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Q. 18: Who is the current Prime Minister of Israel?
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Q. 19: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is currently owned by whom?
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Q. 20: What song by the group Queen made it to number 1 in the British charts twice, in 1976 and 1991?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What side of the road do you drive on in Japan, is it on the right (like the USA) or on the left (like Britain)?
A. 1: In Japan you must drive on the left side of the road.
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Q. 2: Who won this year’s (2014) Gentlemans and Ladies Singles titles at the world famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament in England? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get both correct.)
A. 2: In the 2014 Wimbledon tennis tournament Novak Djokovic was the winner of the Gentlemen’s Singles and Petra Kvitova was the winner of the Ladies’ Singles.
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Q. 3: What is the most distant human-made object from Earth?
A. 3: The Voyager 1 spacecraft is the most distant human-made object from Earth.
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Q. 4: What is the automobile that began as a project between Swatch and Mercedes most commonly known as?
A. 4: It is called the “SMART car”, an abbreviation of its original code name, the Swatch & Mercedes Art Car.
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Q. 5: In the days when countries took control of other nations and territories overseas they were called Empires. Which country at one time controlled the largest Empire in the world (in terms of land area)?
A. 5: Britain, whose Empire at one stage was 33.2 million km2 (approximately 8.2 billion acres).
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Q. 6: There are twelve buttons on a touch tone phone. What two symbols bear no digits?
A. 6: The star * and the hash # buttons have no digits.
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Q. 7: In which branch of the armed forces did William Hitler, a nephew of Adolf Hitler, serve during World War II?
A. 7: Adolf Hitler’s nephew, William, served in the Navy during WWII – the U.S. Navy!
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Q. 8: One chocolate chip can give you enough energy to walk approximately how many feet?
a) 50 feet b) 100 feet c) 150 feet d) 200 feet
A. 8: The correct answer is c) 150 feet.
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Q. 9: Plus or minus ten, The Bahamas consists of approximately how many islands?
A. 9: The Bahamas consists of approximately 501 islands, give yourself a point if you said anything between 491 to 511.
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Q. 10: How many ‘Terminator’ movies have there been to date (2014)? (Bonus points if you can name them and the year they were released.)
A. 10: There have been four ‘Terminator’ movies to date (2014); they are ‘The Terminator’ (1984); ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991); ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ (2003); and, ‘Terminator Salvation’ (2009). A fifth Terminator movie is in post production scheduled for release in 2015.
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Q. 11: Who were the magician duo, known for their magic with big cats, who became the most successful and best known entertainers in Las Vegas?
A. 11: Siegfried and Roy.
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Q. 12: How many US Presidents have been assassinated? (A bonus point for each that you can name and even more points if you know where the assassinations took place and the names of the assassins.)
A. 12: Four US Presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln, in Washington, D.C., on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth; James A. Garfield, also in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, July 2, 1881, by Charles J. Guiteau; William McKinley, in Buffalo, New York, on Friday, September 6, 1901, by Leon Czolgosz; and John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald.
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Q. 13: If you added the number of players in a basket ball team, the number of players in an American football team, the number of players in a soccer team and the number of players in a rugby union team, what would be the total?
A. 13: The answer is 42 (5 + 11 + 11 + 15).
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Q. 14: Famous as Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford, who was he?
A. 14: He was James Garner, who sadly passed away on July 19, 2014.
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Q. 15: What is the collective name for the 26 self-governing districts into which Switzerland is divided?
A. 15: They are called ‘Cantons’.
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Q. 16: The month of August falls within which two Zodiac signs?
A. 16: The zodiac signs for the month of August are Leo (until August 22) and Virgo (from August 23 onwards).
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Q. 17: What was the name of the unexpected hit TV series about an unlikely duo who cook methamphetamine?
A. 17: Breaking Bad.The show originally aired on the AMC network for five seasons, from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013.
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Q. 18: Who is the current Prime Minister of Israel?
A. 18: Benjamin Netanyahu. (No points deducted if you get the spelling wrong.)
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Q. 19: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is currently owned by whom?
A. 19: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG.
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Q. 20: What song by the group Queen made it to number 1 in the British charts twice, in 1976 and 1991?
Hi, and welcome to another week and to start it off, another quiz.
The usual selection of random questions to test your knowledge.
And, as usual, if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please, NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: This one is the name of a famous city and also the man who ran away with Helen?
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Q. 2: What is the highest mountain in Africa?
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Q. 3: On which river does the city of Vienna stand?
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Q. 4: Who was the Empress of India in 1876?
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Q. 5: In which South American country did the ‘bossa nova’ originate?
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Q. 6: The so-called “Pastry war” of 1838 was fought between which two nations?
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Q. 7: Which capital city features in the name of a movie starring Sabu and based on the Arabian Nights?
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Q. 8: What started in a bakery in Pudding Lane in 1666?
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Q. 9: To which country does the island of Madeira belong?
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Q. 10: It’s almost time for the Hollywood Academy Awards again, but who won the Academy Award for best actress two years in a row in 1967 and 1968? (Bonus points if you can also name the movies.)
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Q. 11: How old was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he died in 1791?
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Q. 12: What U.S. President committed an unpardonable sin by kissing Britain’s Queen Mother on the lips?
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Q. 13: On which small island did the USA first test their H bomb in 1954?
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Q. 14: Most people have heard of the phrase “Crossing the Rubicon” meaning to pass a point of no return, but who was the source of the phrase when he crossed the Rubicon and who was his opponent? (A point for each.)
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Q. 15: What make of car did Lenin and Stalin have one of that Brezhnev had three of?
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Q. 16: Which country seceded from Colombia in 1903?
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Q. 17: Which famous movie title is the Mexican name for the river known in the USA as ‘Rio Grande’?
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Q. 18: in 1984 who were Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis?
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Q. 19: What mythological creature did Britain’s King George V have tattooed on his right arm?
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Q. 20: Versions of this popular song have been recorded by Julie Covington, Madonna, Sarah Brighman, Elaine Paige, Sinead O’Connor, Susan Erens and The Carpenters, among others, what is it?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: This one is the name of a famous city and also the man who ran away with Helen?
A. 1: Paris.
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Q. 2: What is the highest mountain in Africa?
A. 2: Mt. Kilimanjaro.
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Q. 3: On which river does the city of Vienna stand?
A. 3: The River Danube.
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Q. 4: Who was the Empress of India in 1876?
A. 4: Britain’s Queen Victoria.
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Q. 5: In which South American country did the ‘bossa nova’ originate?
A. 5: Brazil.
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Q. 6: The so-called “Pastry war” of 1838 was fought between which two nations?
A. 6: Mexico and France.
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Q. 7: Which capital city features in the name of a movie starring Sabu and based on the Arabian Nights?
A. 7: Baghdad, the name of the movie is “The Thief of Baghdad”.
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Q. 8: What started in a bakery in Pudding Lane in 1666?
A. 8: The great fire of London.
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Q. 9: To which country does the island of Madeira belong?
A. 9: Portugal.
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Q. 10: It’s almost time for the Hollywood Academy Awards again, but who won the Academy Award for best actress two years in a row in 1967 and 1968? (Bonus points if you can also name the movies.)
A. 10: Katharine Hepburn, in 1967 for ‘Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner’ and in 1968 for ‘The Lion In Winter’.
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Q. 11: How old was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he died in 1791?
A. 11: Only 35 years old.
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Q. 12: What U.S. President committed an unpardonable sin by kissing Britain’s Queen Mother on the lips?
A. 12: President Jimmy Carter.
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Q. 13: On which small island did the USA first test their H bomb in 1954?
A. 13: Bikini.
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Q. 14: Most people have heard of the phrase “Crossing the Rubicon” meaning to pass a point of no return, but who was the source of the phrase when he crossed the Rubicon and who was his opponent? (A point for each.)
A. 14: The phrase originated when Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon to fight Pompey.
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Q. 15: What make of car did Lenin and Stalin have one of that Brezhnev had three of?
A. 15: Rolls Royce.
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Q. 16: Which country seceded from Colombia in 1903?
A. 16: Panama.
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Q. 17: Which famous movie title is the Mexican name for the river known in the USA as ‘Rio Grande’?
A. 17: Rio Bravo
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Q. 18: in 1984 who were Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis?
A. 18: They were the ‘Ghostbusters’, a group of misfit parapsychologists Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis).
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Q. 19: What mythological creature did Britain’s King George V have tattooed on his right arm?
A. 19: A Dragon.
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Q. 20: Versions of this popular song have been recorded by Julie Covington, Madonna, Sarah Brighman, Elaine Paige, Sinead O’Connor, Susan Erens and The Carpenters, among others, what is it?
Back at the end of July in a previous Sunday Sermon I wrote that:
“Troops are being sent to Syria and soon we’ll get bogged down in another mess that’s none of our business and will probably take many years and many lives to get us disentangled from – leaving behind chaos and confusion and a worse situation than the one we tried to fix.”
Of course it’s still being denied by Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama and his administration, but there is little doubt now that Syria is next on their war hit list and we are indeed about to be bogged down in another bloody mess.
Already naval and ground forces are being positioned, for example, the cruise missile laden USS Gravely, USS Ramage, USS Barry and USS Mahan are all in the eastern Mediterranean.
The only remaining part is to con-vince the American public, who do not want another Middle Eastern debacle, that they are wrong and that a strike on Syria is essential for their future well being.
The pretext that is going to be used this time is ‘evidence’ of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against the rebels. And the people that are being relied on to provide that ‘evidence’ are the very same people who provided false ‘evidence’ that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
Everyone now knows and accepts that the WMD excuse for getting embroiled in Iraq was a deliberate deceit – otherwise known as a ‘lie’ – so the track record of the ‘evidence’ providers is neither good nor credible.
Already government apologists are making statements about how Syria had “used them [chemical weapons] before”, which is untrue. UN investigators charged the rebels, not Assad’s government’s forces, with use of chemical weapons in Syria earlier this year. Strangely (or perhaps not) Obama did not feel such a moral necessity to send a missile or two towards the rebels, instead he gave them more support.
Now add to that another good pinch of hypocrisy.
In fact make that two good pinches.
The first, because the rebellion now taking place within Syria would not have happened without the financial and military assistance of the US, along with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The hypocritical part of it all is that these three nations are in fact supporting people who, if successful, will become even more bitter enemies than the Assad regime.
And the second, because in an alleged effort to encourage ‘democracy’ in Syria, ‘democracy’ in America and Europe is being ignored.
For example, 64 percent of the French people have said they don’t want to get involved, but as in America the ‘people’ don’t have a say on the final outcome.
In Britain the Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron got a very embarrassing slap in the face in Parliament when he tried to emulate the lies of previous Prime Minister Tony Blair but lost a vote on military intervention in Syria. His spin doctors will be working overtime to cook up a good story for the next debate.
And it is plain that the majority of ordinary Americans do not want the President they elected on the promise of getting their troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, plunging them into another conflict which could prove to be as bloody if not bloodier. So plain in fact that until late Friday Obama had planned bypassing Congress obviously trying to avoid a similar embarrassment to that which was suffered by British PM Cameron.
Think this time it will only be a few missiles and drones and that troops won’t be involved? After all Obama has said “We’re not considering any boots on the ground approach”.
Then you need to think again.
Sure, at the outset Obama will try to fool the public by limiting attacks to missile strikes, but these alone won’t be enough. Even in today’s high-tech world you can’t wage wars without those boots on the ground. And in those boots are brave, but misled men and women, some of whom will lose their lives or be maimed as a result.
The doomsday pundits are saying that all this posturing and war mongering by Obama could spiral into something worse. Possibly even be the start of WW3. Unfortunately grandiose claims like these only serve to lessen the credibility of those who are arguing against another foreign intervention.
Putin seems to have more sense than Obama. The Russians have already made their mistake in Afghanistan and are unlikely to do it again. Even less do they want to start or become involved in, a major conflict – not at the moment anyway.
China has little interest in getting involved in a conflict in the middle east either. They will take the long view, and, as they did with Iraq, they will let the US waste billions more dollars blowing things down and building them up again and then they will step in and secure more oil supplies for themselves.
If it does get down to the nitty gritty one possibility that is more realistic is that the conflict could spread to other nations within the Middle East.
Iran for example has a mutual assistance pact with Syria. It also knows it is next on the US hit list so the longer the US is focused on Syria the longer it will postpone an attack on itself. It is not beyond imagination therefore that Iran could send arms and even troops to assist Assad.
Neither is it unreasonable to imagine that, if missile strikes on Syria result in retaliatory Syrian missile attacks on Israel, Israeli troops will also be sent into Syrian territory, with US forces backing them up shortly thereafter.
That is boots on the ground, no matter what denials you currently hear.
However it pans out, two things are certain. ‘Evidence’ or no ‘evidence’ Uncle Sam will stick his nose in once again. And if it all goes pear shaped, as it most likely will, then UP is the only way your gasoline and heating oil prices will be heading.
If you have read any of my previous entries in the politics section of this blog you will already be aware of my extremely low opinion of the intelligence of those in America who are in charge of foreign policy.
These idiots blunder about knowing little of history or tradition in other nations and make quick reaction judgments that are short sighted and that have continually come back to bite them on the ass.
Well, not them exactly, but the poor servicemen and women who are sent in to mop up their messes.
So what has got me ranting this time?
Only the fact that the morons in charge are currently negotiating what is being called ‘a groundbreaking agreement’ that will give American nuclear know-how to the country where Osama Bin Laden and the vast majority of the 9/11 terrorists came from.
Yes, Saudi Arabia.
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The short-sighted US strategy is probably to assist an ally (an oil rich one, of course) to make it an unconquerable target for any of the other states in the area who have expansionist plans for the future.
Great – while the Saud family stay in control, or while a sensible member of the Saud family is in charge.
But what happens if, sometime down the road, the ruling dynasty is overthrown? Not an unknown occurrence in the Middle East. Or what happens if one day there is the equivalent of an ‘Osama’ in the Saud family just as there was in the Bin Laden family?
And what happened to all those non proliferation agreements designed to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of those incapable of handling them sensibly?
The last thing the Middle East needs is yet another country developing nuclear weapons capability. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.
If the consequences were not so potentially tragic, it would be fun watching the political morons in Washington justifying going to war to take nuclear capability away from Iran, which at least holds democratic elections, yet at the same time giving nuclear capability to Saudi Arabia which is an undemocratic dictatorship.
Not even the most devout liberal could spin that one to make it sound good!
fasab 